#covid virus
Are Vaccine Boosters Widely Needed? Some Federal Advisers Have Misgivings.
“In interviews last week, several advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and to the Food and Drug Administration said data show that, with the exception of adults over age 65, the vast majority of Americans are already well protected against severe illness and do not need booster shots.
“All the advisers acknowledged that they were obligated to make difficult choices, based on sparse research, in the middle of a public health emergency. But some said they felt compelled to vote for the shots because of the way the federal agencies framed the questions that they were asked to consider.”
Frustrated Biden officials are hoping to simplify the message on Covid-19 boosters
“Biden and his team are loathe to recommend against indoor holiday gatherings for another year, mindful that Americans are growing increasingly exhausted from pandemic-related restrictions.
“So, too, are Biden and his team mindful of not signaling an end to the pandemic after prematurely declaring ‘freedom from the virus’ over the summer. A subsequent surge due to the highly contagious Delta variant caused a return of mask requirements and closures, and led many Americans to sour on how Biden was handling the crisis.
“Once a bright spot in his poll numbers, more Americans now disapprove of Biden’s handling of the pandemic (49%) than approve (47%), according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released this week.”
COVID-19 vaccine boosters could mean billions for drugmakers
“Most of the vaccinations so far in the U.S. have come from Pfizer, which developed its shot with Germany’s BioNTech, and Moderna. They have inoculated about 99 million and 68 million people, respectively. Johnson & Johnson is third with about 14 million people.
“No one knows yet how many people will get the extra shots. But Morningstar analyst Karen Andersen expects boosters alone to bring in about $26 billion in global sales next year for Pfizer and BioNTech and around $14 billion for Moderna if they are endorsed for nearly all Americans.”
“The WHO strongly opposes the widespread rollout of booster shots, asking that wealthier nations instead give extra doses to countries with minimal vaccination rates. The U.S. has already administered over 2 million third doses nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and an advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration unanimously recommended boosters on Friday for anyone 65 and older.
…
“”WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Sept. 14 that most countries with under 2% vaccination coverage are in Africa, where less than 3.5% of the continent’s eligible population is fully inoculated against Covid. Africa will likely miss the WHO’s target of a 10% vaccination rate by the end of the year, Tedros added.”
Finally, an excuse!
I don’t understand the great mask debate. No shoes. No shirt. No service. We all know that rule. You’re already required to wear things to protect yourself and others when you go into stores. What’s the problem with wearing another 16 square inches of cloth?
No shoes. No shirt. No mask. No service.
Stuck inside? Wanna hear a Canadian perspective?
How are you? I mean that sincerely, how are you? I don’t think any of us would have dreamed a few months back that we’d be living through a pandemic, which would slam the brakes on our lives so hard they’d be smoke coming off them. And then it happened. And everything screamed to a halt.
I was working on my new dark paranormal romance series The F Tales before the virus. The series merges fairytales and fables, myths and magic, the supernatural and the sexy, potent legends and powerful love … with some twists.
So, I was happily working away and then … COVID!
But as writing is a bit of a solitary vocation, and I still had electricity, it was okay. So I finished the first novel, sent it to the editor …
Always go with your gut …
Then that something set in … a wobble of faith. Had I written the novel I wanted to write? But it was in the editor’s hands, so I waited. And then it came back, only for my editor to have the exact same reservations as me. Moral of the tale—always, always, always, go with your gut about the stories you write.
Now granted, it’s been a bit of a weird time. I’ve had three relatives in and out of hospital, and to be honest, walking around those places in a mask and gloves when there is barely anyone in them but those fantastic doctors and nurses risking their own health every day, was very spooky. The town centre was empty. No people. It was like being in the movie 28 Days Later (without the zombies).
So maybe I wasn’t working on all thrusters, but I took a breath, thought about it, and decided my gut was right all along.
The Fun Bit.
I want readers to go on a journey with my characters and explore, watch a new relationship blossom, despite the kinks and kerbs it may hit to get there. That’s the fun bit, right?
The first novel in the new series is coming next year, which is a completely different one than the one I intended, but you will be the first to see the cover, the book trailer, and read the first chapters: I promise.
In the meantime, I want you to take care, stay healthy and happy, have a fantastic New Year, and let’s hope Covid runs back to whatever bat cave it may have been living in before this and stays there, permanently. Roll on 2021.
Keep safe. Keep happy. And keep on reading…
Love and best wishes,
A.M. ☺️ x
My mood in 2020
How to ‘Die Hard, with a Ventilator’.
Shame there’s still people out there who are worried more over being considered a 'sheeple’ than caring for others welfare. Even if it turns out to be a hoax, shame on the government for lying, not shame on those who gave a frell about others!
Or
Mayhap he’s just not concerned about having to take time off work and then how to afford his bills.
Or
He’s already vaccinated as there is a difference betwixt certain classes of people.
Hmm… Either way, wear a mask please n thanks!
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/entertainment-arts-55644107
The past few years have changed how everyone looks at life, what they value. It made everyone take a step back, re-evaluate their jobs, their marriage, friendships, political views. All thanks to Covid. Working from home, small business start ups, people losing jobs, people getting sick, do masks work, vaccination are all topics of conversations. People are missing time, valuable time with loved ones due to quarantine or fear of getting sick. No one trusts anyone anymore, if you sneeze in public- forget it you will get looks of death. Healthcare workers are overworked, teachers are attempting to teach remotely and the ones that do in person kids have to be 6 feet apart. Human interaction is non existent, no hugs, handshakes. I am truly scared of what’s to come. I’m scared of this becoming the new normal. I’m scared of my kids having friends and not even knowing what they look like without a mask on. I’m scared that kids are missing out on a regular childhood filled with sleepovers, birthday parties, field trips. On top of all that the country is so divided, prices are all time high on just about anything. Vaccinated people are hating on the ones that are not, even though both groups can still not only get covid but also pass on to others. I’m not going to say my thoughts on it and I’m actually not sure where I stand. The only thing I do believe that no government should force you to get the vaccine. I am fully vaccinated with a booster - do I feel immune, no. Do I look at people that stand against it with judgement, still no. It’s a personal choice. 2021 has been exhausting, challenging and I’m glad it’s almost over. Did you know- Sunflowers stand tall and face the sun, on gloomy days they turn to each other as if to keep company. I heard that from a girl that sat next to me on a spirit flight and it stuck with me. That’s how I look at covid, we need that people interaction to keep going on cloudy days. So let’s turn to each other instead of turning away and stand tall. 12/28/21
Okay this is the one and ONLY post I’m going to make about Plandemic, and it may be (no promises) the last post I make about COVID-19 for a little while.
- Person 1: *posts Plandemic* This sounds plausible! It makes way more sense than [Fauci, Gates, media, WHO, CDC, etc].
- Person 2: *posts at length about why the woman behind the video has been widely discredited, is an anti-vax conspiracy theorist, etc, complete with links and quotes*
- Person 1: Of course they’ll discredit someone who challenges everything they say! Follow the money! Open your eyes!
Quite frankly, I have neither the time nor the inclination to waste any more of my energy being Person 2.
If you’re a Person 1 (you can tell if you’re doubling down on Plandemic after people give you reasons to question it), please do us all a favor and look up “confirmation bias.”
Because quite frankly, I’m exhausted from explaining herd immunity, pandemic models, CDC reporting methods, the Spanish Flu, and literally everything else relating to COVID-19 to you. I am exhausted from trying to explain why you should listen to scientists when you’re just going to continue to parrot the same bullshit no matter how much evidence is in front of you. I’m exhausted from spending my time and energy digging up that evidence in the name of fighting misinformation and disinformation, only to have you dismiss it because it doesn’t fit your worldview.
I’m exhausted from hearing you talk about how this is no big deal and the media just wants us to be afraid at the same time I’m listening to friends describing the horrors they’re seeing at their healthcare jobs or how sick they are or how devastated they are to have lost someone close to them. This “hoax” you keep screeching about is hurting and killing real people, including people I love, and I’ve run out of the energy it takes to try to convince you that those people matter.
If I’ve stopped arguing with you about COVID-19, or I’ve chosen not to engage when you post things like Plandemic, it’s not because I think you’re right. It’s because I’m not interested in beating my head against your confirmation bias or listening to your cavalier declarations that you’re not going to “live in fear” and take precautions to protect the people around you.
It’s because you’re not going to listen, and because none of your conspiracy theories will help the people I love who are grieving the very real deaths of very real people.
Fuck you, fuck your conspiracy theories, and fuck your confirmation bias.
(fine to share, but please don’t remove my name)
The only thing more frustrating than the pandemic itself is how it’s caused so much nonsense to tumble from the mouths of the willfully ignorant and the proudly obtuse.
“If masks work, why can’t everything else go back to normal?”
Because masks HELP. They don’t eliminate virus transmission. They REDUCE it. Ditto with social distancing, extra hand washing, etc. Wearing a mask is better than not wearing a mask, but literally no one except people complaining about masks think they’re intended to be the end-all be-all of prevention.
“The CDC is now saying getting COVID from surfaces isn’t a huge risk. Why didn’t they tell us the truth from the start?”
What part of “novel” virus do you people not understand? COVID-19 is NEW. Scientists are still figuring it out. That doesn’t happen overnight, and if they say “wait, hold on, we have better information,” that doesn’t mean they lied to you the first time or that they were just guessing. It means they told you what they could based on the information they had at the time, and they have better information now. Science adapts to new information. Stop confusing it with religion.
“Why can’t I go to the dentist, but someone can get an abortion? How are abortions considered essential?”
Because while it’s not ideal, your routine dental cleaning can wait. Abortions have a very, very strict window of time during which they can be performed. Most of you complaining about them being considered essential are the same people who push for ever more stringent time limits. You understand exactly why abortions are still happening during the pandemic. At least have the decency to admit it.
“COVID numbers are inflated because hospitals get more money for COVID patients!”
Educate thyself on medical coding and billing. Hospitals get a certain amount of money for COVID, and that is based on how much it costs to admit a respiratory patient. In fact the number is on the low end because it’s based on admitting a pneumonia patient for a few days, whereas COVID admissions can be several weeks. Also, if hospitals admit patients who don’t have COVID, and they label them as COVID in order to get more money, they’re not going to be able to hide that during an audit. Getting busted for that kind of fraud isn’t worth the short term perks of some extra cash. No hospital is going to risk that just to fraudulently list your broken leg as COVID.
“All deaths are being labeled as COVID no matter what! They don’t even have to confirm it via testing!”
No, they’re not. The COVID code is so the CDC can track deaths, and if there is no confirmed test, they follow up and adjust accordingly. And there is a massive shortage of tests, so record-keeping HAS to adapt. How else can they keep track of COVID deaths or even cases when we can’t test enough people?
“But if a cancer patient gets COVID, it’s labeled a COVID death!”
Uh, yeah? Because that’s how that works? If the COVID sped up the person’s death, then yes it IS a COVID death. You all totally understand that because you’ve been shouting from the start about how medically fragile and elderly people are at greater risk of dying from COVID. Just like they’re at greater risk of dying of the flu. If someone is elderly, obese, diabetic, and undergoing chemo, and they get the flu and die of it, that’s a flu death. Same goes for COVID. It’s not that complicated, and it’s not sinister.
“The vaccine is going to have a chip in it to track people!”
Vaccine tracking doesn’t mean literally tracking people via something injected into them. Take off your tinfoil hat.
“But why can I go to X store and not Y shop? Why is it safe to go to A and not B?”
First, no one determined that certain stores were safe and others were not. They were allowed to remain open based on whether they carried essentials. Because people can’t survive without essentials like groceries. That’s why they’re called essentials. It was understood that leaving some places open in order to provide essentials was a calculated risk, and that’s why social distancing was enforced and masks have been required. No one ever claimed one type of store was magically safer than another.
Were some closures and restrictions short-sighted? Sure. They could absolutely have been handled better. A lot of things about this could have been handled a lot better. But quick decisions had to be made that would minimize person-to-person contact while also not cutting people off from things they need to survive. By the time the second wave hits, lawmakers and leaders will have a better idea of how to handle things because they’ve had time to learn and adapt.
“Why are gun shops considered essential?”
Because the ammosexuals throw a heavily-armed tantrum any time someone makes any noise about getting between them and their guns, and leaving gun shops open is the lesser of two evils. The last thing anyone needs during a crisis is Covid Cletus and his pals rioting because they can’t buy ammo and that’s tyranny or whatever. Of course they still found a reason to dress up as Tactical Timmy and pretend to be soldiers, but no one was surprised by that. I’m not thrilled about letting the toddlers get their way, but I can certainly see why no one wanted to deal with their nonsense while they were trying to deal with everything else. (And I’m a gun owner myself, so don’t come at me about “trying to take your guns away.”)
“Why can’t I go to church?”
I don’t know, man. Maybe because large gatherings are great for spreading viruses? Maybe because, even if it isn’t ideal, things done at church can be done virtually at home? Maybe because, rather than jumping on an opportunity to oppress Christians and ban worship, people were trying to keep you from getting sick?
“But hydroxychloroquine!”
I don’t have time for your confirmation biases today.
Just stop and THINK about these things before you post them, folks. I’m pretty sure many of you understand them, but you don’t like them, so you give them just enough of a twist to make them sound unreasonable and get other people on your side.
Okay, THIS is long, but it’s definitely worth reading…
There’s a drug that’s showing serious promise to stop COVID-19 in its tracks. It can even be given to people who are asymptomatic, and it’ll knock out the virus before symptoms even start, or at the very least, reduce the severity so when it does show symptoms, it’s more like the regular flu or a bad cold.
Patients in a study were treated with mendaciumol, and most (47 of 60) recovered within 5-7 days instead of being ill for weeks. The remaining 13 recovered within 14-21 days, and only 2 required hospitalization or developed any of the severe effects of the illness (lung damage in one, a blood clot in the other).
Testing of family members showed that virus shedding is also minimized, and only 17 patients had family members who also developed the virus. Of those, only 4 developed serious cases, and 1 required hospitalization. There were no deaths. This indicates that not only does mendaciumol treat the virus, it weakens it so that when others contract it, they have an easier chance of fighting it off. No masks needed, even if the person is positive!
Mendaciumol has minimal side effects and is made using far fewer toxic chemicals than other pharmaceuticals out there. Not only that, it can be produced cheaply and in massive quantities, making it readily available as soon as it’s approved.
So why aren’t we hearing about this? Why are we still putting people on ventilators or pushing for hydroxychloroquine? Why is no one even talking about mendaciumol?
Because it’s been developed by a one-of-a-kind organization – a non-profit pharmaceutical company. Serpensoleum Pharmaceuticals has been producing affordable medications for everything from diabetes to asthma, but FDA red tape keeps their medications from being approved. Pharmaceutical lobbyists have lined pockets all over the federal government to keep Serpensoleum’s game-changing products off the market and out of your hands, because they’d rather keep making money selling you drugs that only make you sicker. And do we even need to talk about why the media is keeping it on the down-low?
We have the answer to COVID-19 right in front of us, but we’re letting greedy elected officials and pharmaceutical lobbyists keep it out of our hands so they can keep us sick and scared.
Don’t believe me? Google it. It’s all there. And share this before Facebook deletes it – they don’t want the truth getting out any more than the drug companies do!
Call your lawmakers and demand that Serpensoleum products – especially mendaciumol – be fast-tracked for approval so lives can be saved!
If you’ve made it this far, then I urge you to do your research! Educate yourself!
No, really. Google it.
Don’t let all the buzz words and emotional button-pushing make your decision for you.
Because all it takes is a quick Google search to find that the closest result to mendaciumol is mendacium - the Latin word for lie. Similarly, Serpensoleum is merely a squashed-together version of serpens oleum, which is Latin for snake oil.
Remember this the next time something hits all the right buttons. Just because a post quotes statistics doesn’t mean they haven’t been pulled from thin air (research the actual study). Claiming that something is being kept quiet by the government, the media, and/or pharmaceutical companies also doesn’t make it true. Urgently telling people to share it before it gets deleted doesn’t mean it’s some ground-breaking truth.
Many of the conspiracy theories floating around are successful because they hit the right notes: making you feel like you’re in on something, confirming your belief that Someone is working against us, demonizing pharmaceutical companies and the media, making masks unnecessary, providing statistics that sound amazing but have no basis in reality (usually with just enough “it didn’t work for everyone” to keep it from sounding too good to be true), etc.
Think for yourself. Critical thinking and fact-checking are your friends.
Lori Gallagher Witt
President & CEO of Serpensoleum Pharmaceuticals
Daily dose of Marvel memes
After Corona I will still adhere social distancing with some people.
Quarantine update:
Went to the grocery store today and I saw cans of whip cream and boxes of strawberries placed right next to eachother.
That can’t be a coincidence right???
Ever since this Covid thing started my sex drive has skyrocketed. Fuck, Now it’s like every time I insert a tampon I moan a little.
Send help.
If this pandemic never happened, then the version of who you are now would never have happened.
Is it true that I get a free donut from Krispy Kreme if I’m fully vaccinated?
Covid-19 latest updates / coronavirus worldwide updates
Last year this was funny for a whole other reason
2021 Pandemia y Crisis
2021 seguirá dominado por la pandemia, aunque se espera que sea el año en el que la economía consolide su recuperación. Es probable que las medidas que hubo que tomar a finales de 2020 para combatir la segunda ola de infecciones tengan cierta continuidad en los primeros meses de 2021. Sin embargo, confiamos en que la disponibilidad de una vacuna, junto con un uso más intensivo de las pruebas rápidas, permita mantener la pandemia bajo control sin tener que recurrir a medidas tan restrictivas como las impuestas hasta ahora. En este sentido, esperamos que el crecimiento de la actividad económica se recupere a partir del segundo trimestre, cuando los grupos de mayor riesgo ya deberían estar inmunizados, mientras que la movilidad internacional debería disfrutar de una mayor recuperación, con el consiguiente impacto positivo en el turismo.
En general, esperamos que el crecimiento económico en 2021 se sitúe en torno al 6,0%. Aunque el ritmo de recuperación es elevado, esto seguiría dejando a la economía un 6,2% por debajo del nivel del PIB anterior a la crisis. De hecho, no esperamos que la economía vuelva a los niveles anteriores a la crisis hasta 2023.
La economía se recuperará en los próximos años a nivel macroeconómico, pero dejará algunas cicatrices importantes. Por lo tanto, será fundamental aplicar políticas económicas adecuadas para que estas cicatrices se cierren en el menor tiempo posible y para evitar efectos persistentes en determinados sectores económicos y para quienes trabajan en ellos.
El mercado laboral se recuperará gradualmente en 2021, aunque las políticas laborales deberán acompañar esta recuperación para evitar que los sectores más afectados por la pandemia -turismo, ocio, hostelería…- salgan con profundas cicatrices. - salgan con profundas cicatrices. Así, los planes de ERTE seguirán siendo una herramienta importante en el primer semestre de 2021, aunque de forma más selectiva y temporal que en 2020.
“And perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone.”
—Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles.
I feel worse then I did yesterday, in which I felt okay yesterday.
But today? I feel like crap, and it sucks.
Guy’s, remember to make sure to stay 6ft away from others, wash your hands, and wear a mask
If your not feeling well, stay inside so you can protect yourself and as well others.
I’m concerned that I may have Covid.
I can’t taste or smell anything ever since yesterday-
I’m a bit congested, but that’s about it.
